GoldFinger1969

This needs to be read/seen -- and also updated: Read it: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/collectors-lament-baseballs-house-of-cards/ See it: https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/cbs-sunday-morning-to-chronicle-industrys-collapse/

For starters, you have much more exposure to the people on those cards and memorabilia pieces than you do with coins. Sports and other cultural events are highlighted on TV and the internet. Entire TV networks devoted to a single sport and focused attention on specific players which leads to a mention in passing of a card or other token. No such TV channel focused on the U.S. Mint or Augustus Saint-Gaudens. DIY investing (Robinhood) is EXPLODING -- but those seeking out high-quality Private Banking are much more restrained in their numbers. Similarly, popular lower-priced items like cards and memorabilia strike a cord with most of the public.....whereas most don't know we once made gold coins other than today's American Eagle's. The public believes they have a TRADING ADVANTAGE to make money on Robinhood or with cards. No such "insider advantage" with coins. I do believe we will have our day in the Sun....maybe when cryptocurrencies are not sucking $20-$30 billion a month away from PM's. When gold is approaching $3,000 in a few years, you may start seeing those coinfomercials no longer running at 4:30 AM but in primetime at 9 o'clock.

How old is Fred ? Approaching 80 I would bet....

Just curious, since you are big on ethics....do you think it was ethical of the Mint and Treasury to engage in settlement talks with the Langbords and then cease once they were given the coins for authentication purposes only ? How about threatening to arrest Roy Langbord, clearly an intimidation ploy (which backfired when the NYU Law Graduate gave them his credentials) ? How about threatening Fenton with jail time after the Waldorf sting when maybe they should have found the Export License themselves which rendered their entire argument baloney ?

Is he also a dealer or used to be ?

OK, got it.....just for that I'm not getting you one for your birthday !

Well, 99.999% were melted down in 1937 and you only had a handful that were confiscated later and destoyed (I wonder if there was proof of their destruction ? Could you imagine if a coin was swapped out and preserved !!?? ). How would die differences impact the destruction of the bulk of the 1933's in 1937 or the other coins confiscated from 1947-1955 ?

Most message boards I belong to -- including coin ones -- DO accept PDFs and Word docs. It's actually pictures that can take up more space, it takes lots of text/words/pages to be the same file size as a high-def or raw pic of a coin. If I have to use DropBox or something like that, that would be my poor 2nd option. BTW, the "research" is more compendiums of articles, commentaries, research links, etc (esp. from the Heritage Archives)....don't want to confuse it with the type of research you do, Roger. But I still think it will be of interest to Saint/Double Eagle afficionados.

I'm surprised there was that much interest in coin shows/sales in 1868, only 3 years after the Civil War ended.

Research Note: I am trying to create another thread to post Saint/Double Eagle research that is in PDF or Word formats. However, the NGC Message Boards do NOT currently support such file types. I have reached out to NGC members here and will report back. I thought a separate thread is best because research and comments would get lost in this more-active thread which is approaching 50 pages. They'll be easier to find and access in a shorter thread that is more for posting links, articles, and research than the back-and-forth we have here. Again, I'll need NGCs help as PDF/Word docs currently can't be posted here for some reason.

You mean maybe focusing on distinguishing marks.....luster....strike ? Since the only opportunity for most to look at "multiple 1933's" involves the 2 government coins and not up-close...there aren't that many people who've had the chance to do that, I would think. The Langbord Coins have mostly been staying at Fort Knox exept for a few days at the ANA Money Show....the 2018 appearance at the PA coin show....the Farouk-Weitzman Coin when publicly displayed or on auction....that's about it off the top of my head. And unlike the MCMVII UHR's and HR's and 1929-32 "Fab Five" coins.....no really great hi-def pics of the 1933's. Or at least that I have uncovered. Best analysis, pics, and descriptions were in your book and I think a CoinWeek article detailing the coins which I think was posted earlier in this thread.

(1) What years were Roosters minted ? (2) What years were the closest to 1-oz. Roosters minted ? And what denomination were these ? (3) Hard to believe they have NO IDEA how many remain of 117 MM. Where'd they go ? We have an excuse -- we melted all our damn gold coins in the 1930's. What happened to France's ? If they didn't melt them down...if they weren't re-struck (which involves a melting)...they should be out there, some of them, no ?

That's not a range, that's a homestead !

Not at all.....they're actually not off-tangents.....they continue to strengthen my argument: the government MUST return the 1933 Saints back to their respective owners !!

Or he lives on the 20th floor......

There are no (1 ounce) Roosters that trade for the spot price of gold bullion, like generic 1924 Saints ?

No argument, the MCMVII UHRs are much nicer coins. Even the 1907 HR's. But they are rare coins and a piece of history.

The 1933's ? What could be learned, except more details (from high-def pics) on the quality of each ?

Like we've said here many times, nobody buys coins -- or should be -- for market-beating investment returns. Mr. Weitzman realized a childhood dream and I guess that's a fantastic return in and of itself.

If there are that many, probably the majority are oveseas. Still can't believe someone voluntarily turned in theirs.

I posted about the 1921 Specimen's with unique finishes a few posts back, with information drawn from Roger's book. Roger noted that he wanted to see the Baker/Ghiradelli 1921 "Specimen" with the unique finish in his book. They would NOT let him see it but the owners of the other 1921 Specimen did. We were discussing here letting a researcher/numismatist like Roger have access to the coin and be able to see it and also detail the ownership history. When a rare coin with very few owners changes hands very infrequently, things get lost over time. That was the gist of it. Not sure how 1933's got drawn into this -- I don't believe Roger or anybody else asked a secretive 1933 owner about being able to see a hidden 1933 Saint like the one voluntarily turned in. THAT would be something you'd expect to be kept secret ! The 1921's are completely legal.

I thought the coin Roger was not allowed to see was the 1921 Specimen, which we discussed a few posts back and which he referenced not being able to see in his book ?

Ottoman Empire.....

Kinda sad that an accurate historical account of the Rooster is not available as with our Liberty's and Saints.

Did Europeans like to hold American gold coins because there was distrust over their own countries quality or honesty in producing gold coins ? Anybody got any thoughts ? It seems like either European banks or European dealers or Europeans themselves liked having Liberty's and Saints as opposed to their non-circulating among the public here in the States.